New and worse secrecy and immunity claims from the Obama DOJ
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New and worse secrecy and immunity claims from the Obama DOJ
New and worse secrecy and immunity claims from the Obama DOJ -- from Salon.com:
Change you can believe in! Huzzah!
But late Friday afternoon, the Obama DOJ filed the government's first response to EFF's lawsuit (.pdf), the first of its kind to seek damages against government officials under FISA, the Wiretap Act and other statutes, arising out of Bush's NSA program. But the Obama DOJ demanded dismissal of the entire lawsuit based on (1) its Bush-mimicking claim that the "state secrets" privilege bars any lawsuits against the Bush administration for illegal spying, and (2) a brand new "sovereign immunity" claim of breathtaking scope -- never before advanced even by the Bush administration -- that the Patriot Act bars any lawsuits of any kind for illegal government surveillance unless there is "willful disclosure" of the illegally intercepted communications.
In other words, beyond even the outrageously broad "state secrets" privilege invented by the Bush administration and now embraced fully by the Obama administration, the Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and -- even if what they're doing is blatantly illegal and they know it's illegal -- you are barred from suing them unless they "willfully disclose" to the public what they have learned.
In other words, beyond even the outrageously broad "state secrets" privilege invented by the Bush administration and now embraced fully by the Obama administration, the Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and -- even if what they're doing is blatantly illegal and they know it's illegal -- you are barred from suing them unless they "willfully disclose" to the public what they have learned.
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Politicians are the biggest threat to National Security.
I find it amusing that the folks that condemned Bush and his administration for the Patriot Act are quite mum when Barry's at the helm.
BTW, "Huzzah" is one of those words not used nearly enough.
I find it amusing that the folks that condemned Bush and his administration for the Patriot Act are quite mum when Barry's at the helm.
BTW, "Huzzah" is one of those words not used nearly enough.
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I officially condemn the Obama administration for following along with part of the Bush legacy. I didn't want to jump the gun after one editorial and wanted to find out the full story.
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